Kathie Lee Gifford

In 1994, I spent a couple of weeks in Manhattan, working as arranger and keyboard player on Kathie Lee Gifford's "Dreamship" album. It was a lullaby record and Kathie Lee had lots of musical guests join her on the record, including Kenny Loggins, Sandy Patti, and Aaron Neville. I'd get up every morning and as I showered and got dressed, would have the "Regis and Kathie Lee" show on TV. Just before the show ended I would head to the lobby to catch a cab to the studio, getting there in time to power up my computers and go over the day's work before Kathie Lee arrived. Then she would come breezing in about 10:45, (her show ended at 10:30), and we would work on her record until 7:00 pm, when she would head back to Connecticut to hopefully see her kids before they fell asleep. The next morning she would leave her house by 4:00 am to start the whole routine over again. Kathie Lee was one of the friendliest and most sincere people I've worked with. At lunch, she would go out of her way to involve everyone at the table in the conversation, and even with the busy week, she invited us to her home for a cook-out. On our last day, I was joking with her about her unbelievable work schedule. I said, "Well, I guess you'll be glad to get us out of town. Now you can go home at 11:00 instead of having to come here." She said, "Well, actually, this was kind of a break. Next week, I have to start filming my Christmas Special!" Truly the hardest-working woman in show business.